D

Daphne Rises

by Tim Gavin


Look how Mercury dapples the sky & Daphne’s house
Faces north; there is nothing to say about the light
Except it reaches beyond the heavens and would dapple
Hell if it could. In times forgotten except
In American textbooks, the slave revolt
Of 1804 means nothing in the Central Plateau
Where schools dot the country
Side and bring some hope, realizing
Learning math and science and literature
Could prevent one from early death – say about ten
Or eleven years old. These dreams – colossal
In the night sky –  dance among moon beams
As Daphne rises predawn,
As Mercury confiscates brilliance in one slide.
 

Tim Gavin

Tim Gavin is an Episcopal priest, serving as the head chaplain at The Episcopal Academy, located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. He oversees the school’s volunteer service cooperative and its partnership program with St. Marc’s School in the Central Plateau of Haiti, which he visits three to four times a year. His poems have appeared in many journals and most recently in The Anglican Theological Review, About Place Journal, Chiron Review, Digital Papercut, Evening Street Review, Screech Owl Review, HEArt On-Line Journal, The Lake, decomP magazinE and Blue Heron Review. He lives with his wife and sons in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.